ShopperTrak report: Retail foot traffic up, sales dip on Black Friday

Chicago -- A report released Saturday by ShopperTrak found that Black Friday proved to be a mixed bag for retailers, as retail foot traffic increased over last year, but retail sales decreased slightly.



ShopperTrak estimates that, when compared with Black Friday last year, retail foot traffic rose 3.5% to more than 307.67 million store visits. Retail sales decreased 1.8%, however, with shoppers spending an estimated total of $11.2 billion on Friday.



“Black Friday continues to be an important day in retail,” said Bill Martin, ShopperTrak founder. “This year, though, more retailers than last year began their ‘doorbuster’ deals on Thursday, Thanksgiving itself. So while foot traffic did increase on Friday, those Thursday deals attracted some of the spending that is usually meant for Friday.”



By region, total foot traffic increased year-over-year 12.9% in the Midwest, 7.6% in the northeast and 8.7% in the South. Foot traffic dipped 11.3% in the west.



Last year, Black Friday foot traffic increased over 2010 by 4.7%. In 2011, consumers spent $11.4 billion on Black Friday, up from $10.69 billion in 2010.